Aripiprazole: new drug. Just another neuroleptic.

(1) Neuroleptics are the standard treatment for schizophrenia. The first drugs of this class, such as haloperidol, were marketed nearly 50 years ago, and neuroleptics released over the past 15 last years have provided no major advance. (2) Aripiprazole is a new neuroleptic licensed for the treatment of schizophrenia. (3) Five double-blind placebo-controlled trials lasting 4 to 6 weeks showed that aripiprazole was a little more effective than placebo at daily doses of 10 mg to 30 mg, without a clear dose-response relationship. Based on the least demanding definition of "treatment response" (a 30% reduction in the PANSS global score), less than 50% of patients responded to aripiprazole. (4) In a double-blind trial lasting 6 months, aripiprazole 15 mg/day was more effective than placebo in preventing acute relapses of schizophrenia (34% versus 57%), but the clinical relevance of the combined endpoint used to define relapse is unclear. (5) The only double-blind comparison versus another neuroleptic (haloperidol) involved two trials that were pooled for analysis. Haloperidol was provided at a moderate dose (10 mg/day). These trials were designed to demonstrate the superiority of high-dose aripiprazole (30 mg/day), but failed to do so. The proportion of patients who "responded" during an acute episode, based on the least stringent definition, was about 70% in both groups. In both groups, response persisted in approximately three-quarters of patients. (6) Aripiprazole exhibits the adverse effects classically seen with neuroleptics. In clinical trials, daily doses of aripiprazole, ranging from 15 mg to 30 mg, provoked fewer extrapyramidal disorders than haloperidol 10 mg/day. In contrast, there was no difference in the frequency of extrapyramidal disorders with aripiprazole 20 or 30 mg/day and risperidone (6 mg). Aripiprazole has no proven advantage over haloperidol in terms of the risk of tardive dyskinesia. One trial showed no difference between aripiprazole and olanzapine in the risk of diabetes. Weight gain appears to be comparable with aripiprazole and haloperidol. Aripiprazole provoked postural hypotension and neuroleptic malignant syndrome, but the precise risk relative to other neuroleptics has not been documented. Supra-therapeutic doses of aripiprazole cause dose-dependent QT prolongation. (7) Increased mortality was seen in elderly patients treated with aripiprazole. (8) Animal studies have shown retinal degeneration in rats and biliary lithiasis in monkeys. These adverse effects have not been observed in clinical trials, but they have not been specifically assessed in humans. (9) Animal studies raised the possibility of fetal toxicity and teratogenicity. (10) The aripiprazole dose must be either halved or doubled during co-administration with inhibitors or inducers of cytochrome P450 isoenzymes CYP 3A4 and CYP 2D6. (11) In practice, there are too many unanswered questions to recommend aripiprazole for patients with schizophrenia.